Unloaded surprise

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FlSwampRat

FlSwampRat

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A repeat customer came in to tell me he wanted to repawn his firearm.
I reminded him to bring it in unloaded.
In came the Glock 17 with the empty mag out.
As I have been trained to do I racked the slide to verify unloaded status and lookee what popped out. Scary thing is Glocks can fire with magazine removed, unlike some other guns.

DSCN0328.JPG
 
Normal noises in the world of gun sales.

I took in a GB purchase once. It was a Ruger 22/45. Opened the parcel to log it but checked it first and out popped a live 22 LR round from the chamber.

Had been shipped cross country loaded and safety off
 
About five years ago I had a customer bring in a CZ61 for me to ship out. Customer said he had cleared it, but oddly a round flew out when I cleared it.:what: Didn't scare me as much as it did him.

What did make me a bit flush, partly with anger, was opening a box from the Bersa "factory authorized service center" in some tiny town in Texas with a repaired Bersa .380 pistol inside. Not only loaded, round in chamber, but cocked and safety off. I ejected the round, took a photo and emailed that gunsmith "lookee what I found". He was apologetic and probably more upset than I was. That box went through who knows how many hands, loading docks and drops/throws/bounces at USPS before I received it.
 
dogtown tom said:
About five years ago I had a customer bring in a CZ61 for me to ship out. Customer said he had cleared it, but oddly a round flew out when I cleared it.:what: Didn't scare me as much as it did him.

What did make me a bit flush, partly with anger, was opening a box from the Bersa "factory authorized service center" in some tiny town in Texas with a repaired Bersa .380 pistol inside. Not only loaded, round in chamber, but cocked and safety off. I ejected the round, took a photo and emailed that gunsmith "lookee what I found". He was apologetic and probably more upset than I was. That box went through who knows how many hands, loading docks and drops/throws/bounces at USPS before I received it.
Click to expand...
Guess the drop safety works well in a Bersa!
 
-Of the thirty-odd intact firearms that I've picked up in unconventional ways, only two were not loaded - and those were a pair of WWI rifles from a rural farm auction that I checked before they went on the block.

-Of the dozens of mostly-intact relic-quality guns that I have found over the last half-century, all showed a cartridge case, a bullet, or at least a bore obstruction at about the right depth.

In summation: a gun must be handled as if it were loaded if it can possibly be fired.
Personally, I'm in favor of chamber flags for all semi-autos being shipped or being brought into shops and open bolts for bolt actions.
Revolvers and break-actions just require careful handling... .
 
That stuff happens more often than you might think. Which is why it bears repeating yet again in this thread that YOU and you alone must ensure that a gun is clear. Friend of mine who operates the LGS has seen it many times, especially when folks bring in a gun that's not theirs, like from an estate. Last one I recall was a woman who brought in a 12 ga. Beretta for her boyfriend. It was loaded and the safety was off. Thank God nothing happened. The woman also got a good lesson in firearm safety from my friend.
 
There are a surprising number of people out there that believe simply dropping the mag unloads the gun. Which is why, I am sure, the mag disconnect safety was invented.
 
FlSwampRat said:
Scary thing is Glocks can fire with magazine removed, unlike some other guns.
Click to expand...

The great majority of handguns, and virtually all rifles, can fire with the magazine removed. And I would argue that that is how firearms are supposed to work. Those firearms which do have a magazine disconnect invariably have more parts than their counterparts without this mis-feature. And having more parts creates more possibilities for mechanical failure. Note that I did not call the magazine disconnect a safety, because I do not believe that it improves safety. Certainly, if it leads to any complacency in the handling of firearms, that is a negative.

I know that some people do prefer to have a magazine disconnect, and I respect their opinions and their choices. But for me the disadvantages of a magazine disconnect outweigh the advantages.

I would also note that on firearms that were built with a magazine disconnect, it is commonly removed or disabled for a variety of reasons. So even if it appears to be present, I would not trust its function without testing it.

The critical factors for firearms safety are attitude, not mechanical devices. In particular, training, focus, consistency, and vigilance all lead to good safety practices. In these areas, I believe the OP has done commendably, since he was presented with a potentially dangerous situation, and brought it to a safe resolution.
 
straightshooterjake said:
The great majority of handguns, and virtually all rifles, can fire with the magazine removed. And I would argue that that is how firearms are supposed to work. Those firearms which do have a magazine disconnect invariably have more parts than their counterparts without this mis-feature. And having more parts creates more possibilities for mechanical failure. Note that I did not call the magazine disconnect a safety, because I do not believe that it improves safety. Certainly, if it leads to any complacency in the handling of firearms, that is a negative.

The critical factors for firearms safety are attitude, not mechanical devices. In particular, training, focus, consistency, and vigilance all lead to good safety practices. In these areas, I believe the OP has done commendably, since he was presented with a potentially dangerous situation, and brought it to a safe resolution.
Click to expand...

In a perfect world you are right. But as these other stories suggest, we live in a far from perfect world. Just listen to the morning traffic report.
 
A friend who used to own/operate a local gun/pawn shop showed a gun to a customer several years ago. Kevin is pretty good about always handing a gun to a customer with the action open. Which he did, but was distracted by a phone call while the gun was out. When the customer handed the gun back to him he put it back under the glass.

Later in the day another customer asked to see the same gun. When Kevin pulled back the slide to lock it a round came out of the chamber. He is 100% sure the customer earlier in the day put it in there, just not sure why.
 
jmr40 said:
A friend who used to own/operate a local gun/pawn shop showed a gun to a customer several years ago. Kevin is pretty good about always handing a gun to a customer with the action open. Which he did, but was distracted by a phone call while the gun was out. When the customer handed the gun back to him he put it back under the glass.
Later in the day another customer asked to see the same gun. When Kevin pulled back the slide to lock it a round came out of the chamber. He is 100% sure the customer earlier in the day put it in there, just not sure why.
Click to expand...
And this is why all of our guns out for sale have trigger locks. Also, a call can go to voice mail before I'm walking away from a customer with a gun out of the showcase.
 
Watched a gunner drop the mag (empty) from an M16A1, pull the charging handle fully back, let it go and pulled the trigger. Bang! No one hurt (just some sore ears), turns out the extractor was broken.

You never know...

Conelrad
 
Conelrad said:
Watched a gunner drop the mag (empty) from an M16A1, pull the charging handle fully back, let it go and pulled the trigger. Bang! No one hurt (just some sore ears), turns out the extractor was broken.
You never know...

Conelrad
Click to expand...
You actually have to peek in the chamber. In the Army they ran a cleaning rod down every bore coming off the range.
 
FlSwampRat said:
Glocks can fire with magazine removed, unlike some other guns.
Click to expand...
Excuse me, a correction.

[Normal] handguns can fire with magazine removed, unlike some other guns with [Stupid] magazine safeties.

Sorry for the thread hijack. But like use of "normal capacity" magazine vs "large/high capacity" magazine, it bothers me.

OK, back to OP.
 
At a local range on the pistol side while I was checking my BP rifle everything quite after a cold range then BANG, someone pulled the slide on a 1911 and chambered a round and shot the bench, everyone there was surprised.
 
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